The Larry Yasgar Story

                                                   The Larry Yasgar Story

                                                                 2008        

                                        

                            Written 12/27/2010 and rewritten 03/04/2016 unedited

                                                          Howard Yasgar

     In 1987 at the suggestion of my wife Katherine, I called up my cousin Larry Yasgar. I hadn’t spoken to Larry since around 1963, that’s when I married and moved to Florida from New Haven Connecticut.

     My cousin Larry is the son of my father’s brother, Sam Yasgar and his wife Faye. I felt bad that I hadn’t spoken to Larry in about twenty five years, and I had often wondered how he was doing. Both our fathers, were born in New Haven, around 1909 and 1910. With my father Jack being the older of the two. But both the brothers were a couple of handsome looking guys that grew up playing around on the streets of New Haven in the late 1920’s and 1930’s. Those, were the prohibition days, when the kids were wearing knickers, and trolleycars ran on the streets.

They were the days when Vaudeville was playing in the Shubert Theater on College Street. In New Haven, and it was also a time when New Haven was just becoming a modern city, you could call and order blocks of ice for your ice box , and they would be delivered by the ice man right to your house by truck.

     Both brothers, Jack and Sam lived in their family two story house on Sherman Avenue, and they hung around with their buddy Alfred Caplin. He was a budding artist back then that later became Al Capp the originator of the popular “Lil Abner” comic strip. My father said the three of them to hitch a ride would run behind the ice delivery trucks jumping on the back when no one was looking, they did it until Alfred fell off the back of the truck and a trolley car ran over his leg.

    By the 1930’s, life was changing for the two brothers, my father was selling news-papers on the corner of Church and Crown Street, in down town New Haven and Larry’s dad started professionally tap dancing on stage and traveling the vaudeville circuits.

     Eventually by the late 1930’s both of the brothers had married, with Sam, marrying a good looking blond girl named Faye, and they had a son Larry, who was born in 1941, and my father marrying a nurse named Betty Lazaroff. I was born in 1939, but because I was two years older than Larry, we didn’t hang around much together, in those days as us older guys never hung around with little kids younger than ourselves.
     I got to see Larry when there were family functions or when my folks went over to their house to visit. I can remember once when we visited their home and Larry was about eight or ten years old. Larry’s mom always opened up a big box of Whitmans chocolates. Well, one evening I walked into the pantry where Larry was biting into each candy until he found the soft fruit ones that he liked. What he was doing wasn’t really bad, as Larry carefully replaced the rejected ones with tooth marks back into its rightful place in the box.

     By the 1950’s my dad had bought a home in Westville and so did Larry’s Dad, and it was around that time that my cousin Larry started working at Cutlers record and tape store. Cutler had opened the music store on Broadway in New Haven in 1948 and I’m sure that Larry’s working in Cutlers record store is what probably inspired him to get into the music record business.               

     While I didn’t get to see Larry at all during those years, that he worked at Cutler’s, I often got to see his father Sam, who was managing the cosmetics departments for the Rexall drug chain right up the street from my high school.   

      In 1961 my father passed away, and by 1963, and I had just married and left Westville and New Haven for Miami Florida, but I had heard from family members that Larry had also married, and he was doing very well, living in Stamford Connecticut. They said he had three children, and I was told that he was working for some big record Company in New York.

      So one day in 1988, as I was sitting in my office in Miami, I was thinking about my cousin Larry, and I got the idea of looking him up on the internet to get his phone number, I found it, and I called Larry up. At that time we had not spoken in over twenty eight years, so I think Larry was happy to hear from me just as I was happy to talk with him. He confirmed that he was married and had several children, and he said that his father had also passed away but his Mom, came to visit his family in Stamford all the time.

      Larry told me that he was very involved with the recording Industry, he said he had started out at the bottom, working at Cutlers record store, and then he had worked himself up and into the New York record industry. Larry said he had done everything, even traveling and selling records out of the trunk of his car. Then in 1970 he became the regional sales manager for Atlantic Records in New York, and by 1973 he was promoted to national sales director, and he also became president of a new division called Vendetta Records. I didn’t fully understand everything Larry was talking about, because I knew absolutely nothing about the recorded music industry, but I was happy to hear that Larry was doing so well, and like me, he was working doing something he really liked to do.

      Larry took my telephone number and said he would get back to me, when he was coming to Florida. So I was pleasantly surprised when Larry called me in 1989 saying he would be coming to Florida with his new wife Roni, and perhaps we could get together for supper, I was so delighted to hear from him. Larry said he had been divorced and had now remarried, and his wife’s parents, were living in North Miami, so it was decided we all meet together at a local Steak and Ale restaurant, which was close to her parent’s home.

     At the restaurant my wife Katherine, and I met Larry’s lovely wife Ronie as well as her father and mother. At the time we had no idea who Larry’s wife Ronie was.

     After supper, Larry told us that he recently had a close call with death. He said that one evening he felt bad and they rushed him to the Hospital. It was there that he said his heart had actually “exploded” and his doctors told him later, that he is the only person they ever saw who had survived from it.

     After recuperating, Larry said he had started promoting singing groups, he was looking for new talent and recording their songs. He said that he had discovered and promoted a group called C & C Music Factory, and they had made several number one hit records with him.

One of the songs was called “Let’s Dance”, and even I, had remembered that song. Both Katherine and I thought it was really nice to hear that Larry was so successful in the record Business. We all enjoyed our evening together with him and his wife Roni, and her parents. We all said our goodbyes, both Katherine and I hoped we would see Larry and Roni again.

    By 1991, my wife Katherine and I were going most weekends to our condo at Executive Bay Club, it was located in Islamorada in the Florida Keys. At the time we were also into disco dancing, and where we lived in Islamorada, one of the only night clubs with live disco music was located on the top of the Holiday Isle Resort building. It was on the top of the building, which

Was only six stories tall, but it was the tallest building in Islamorada. So to get to the nightclub required using their elevator. We stepped in the elevator, but we were quickly advised that the nightclub had been reserved for a private party and we couldn’t go up. We were disappointed but as there were four young people standing in the elevator, I asked them who had reserved the nightclub, they said it was a party for the music Industry. Really, so I said, is my cousin Larry Yasgar here?  Their eyes got real big, “Oh no”, they said, “Larry Yasgar is a big shot in the Industry, he wouldn’t be here, this party is for us lower level employees. Wow, I couldn’t believe it, they all knew my cousin Larry. We left feeling pretty good after hearing what they had said about Larry.  

     It was around 2005, when I had been listening to the Oldie Goldie’s music from the 1950’s and they had just played “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”.  I had been hearing that song for years, but not being a music fan, I never paid any attention as to who sang it. But I knew that I had been hearing it ever since I was a teenager, and I always thought that whoever sang that song had to be some king of genius. Because it sounded so very different when compared to the doo wop, sha na na type music that was being played at the time, and I wondered how they ever did it, but that was it, I never did anything about finding out who and how that song was made.

        So again, around 2009, I was again talking to my wife Katherine about the song, “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”. I told my wife that I thought the song was a masterpiece, of highly technical music. I wanted to find out who wrote it, who produced it and who sang it. I wanted to call them up, and tell them I thought it was absolutely fantastic, and a masterpiece, but I had no idea of who, or what group did the song. As we spoke about it, my wife Katherine said, “It was probably made by some “Flash in the Pan” type artist, who never had another hit record and has by now faded into obscurity, I agreed.

     That’s when Katherine suggested, that I should go onto Google and again find my Cousin Larry Yasgar, who could probably tell me everything I wanted to know about the song.

     So I went on Google again to look for my cousin Larry, and I was really surprised to find page after page of Larry's accomplishments, there was no question, he was a rock star at the top of the top, in the music industry.

     I again found Larry’s home telephone number in Stamford Connecticut, and I called him.

Larry was happy to hear from me again. I jokingly told him about my fascination with the song The Lion Sleeps Tonight, and I wondered if he knew who did it? Larry said, “Sure, it was

Jay Siegle of the Tokens, and Larry said he knew Jay. He said he would bump into Jay Single all the time, in the corridors of Columbia Records”. Larry asked me that if I wanted Jay's phone number, he said Jay Siegle was living in upstate New York. So I could either call him, or if I wanted, Larry said he would introduce me to him. He said Jay Siegle was a fantastic artist who sang the song in a falsetto voice. Larry said that Jay Siegle not only sang, but he wrote songs and was also a music producer who had brought many groups up the ladder in the music Industry. He said Jay Siegle was truly a real artist and still going strong, having produced The Captain and Tennille, and many other singing groups.

     Then Larry asked what I was doing, he wanted to know if I had a job for him. I thought he was joking. But Larry sounded a little depressed, and said he was going to apply for a job at a local Wall Mart Store the next day, I really didn’t know if he was joking with me.

     Larry then told me that when the Internet started giving away free music, Columbia Records tried to stop them, and they eventually brought a bunch of law suites against the transmitting of free music and they spent millions of dollars, on attorney’s fees, but it all got them nowhere, and eventually they ran out of money. Larry said that the closing of Columbia had really hurt him financially. And if that wasn’t enough of a problem, he was badly hurt in an automobile accident on the Meritt Parkway and the insurance company had so far refused to pay, so now he had a lot of legal as well as medical expenses.

     Larry said his wife Roni, was now helping by working for a local antique company. But despite all the problems, Larry said was hoping to one day put something together in the music business again. Never the less, I felt bad to hear about all the problems, and I invited them to come for a visit to Florida.

      Then in 2013, Larry called to say he was coming to Florida with his wife Roni, her father was ill and they would like to get together with us when they came down. They did come down, and they stayed with us for a weekend. We all had a good terrific time, and in talking to them we had two surprises. The first surprise was to find out that Larry’s lovely wife Roni was the ex-wife of Tommy James of the Shondells, and what a story she had to tell. She told us about her life with Tommy, and she said that we should read a book written by Tommy James called, “Me, the mob, the Music”. One of the stories Roni told us took place in 1969, Tommy James was performing in Hawaii, and they were living in the lap of luxury in a big house there. Tommy was asked if he wanted to do an upcoming show in upstate New York. They decided not to do it as nothing could be better than living in that big beautiful house in Hawaii, and that’s how they missed doing Woodstock in August of 1969.

      Larry said that after his divorce, he saw Roni in the Cafeteria at Colombia Records, and when he found out she was divorced he just fell in love with her at first sight, and now they have two sons. We could have listened to their stories about the music and record industry forever, it was absolutely fascinating to have them with us.

     While Larry and Roni were visiting us, I called my aunt Lilian. Lilian. Lillian was my mother’s youngest sister who was now ninety years old and living in Hamden Connecticut. She had always told me that she knew Larry, but she didn’t know why. I asked Larry, and he said he didn’t know why she knew him either. It turns out that as a teenager Lillian handled the cash register at Cutlers Records and Tapes on Broadway in New Haven, it was the very same record store where Larry got his start.

      We try to stay in touch with Larry and Roni and they know they always have an open invitation to come visit us in Florida. I am sure they have lots more stories to tell us about the music industry.  

    

The Sarkis Soghanalian Story

                                          The Sarkis Soghanalian Story

                                         Otherwise known as the “Merchant of Death”

                                                                     1990

                                              Written 10/2011 Re-written 01/2016

                                                              Howard Yasgar

In 1990, my company, CME Arma was just starting to deal in military vehicle replacement parts, it was a new venture for us.

Our main company office was located at 4500 NW 36 Avenue in North West Miami.

We were located a short distance from the intersection of 36 Avenue  and 46th Street.

A short distance from us on the corner, was a gas station and catty-corner from the gas station was a large warehouse owned by Jack Olshen of Olshen Overseas a plumbing supplier.

When Jack Olshen decided to move to a larger building near the Palmetto Expressway, his building was available.

The building was way too large for us, so we anxiously waited to see who would buy it.

One day, a dark complexioned, 5 foot 8 inch, muscular, Mid Eastern looking fellow in a tight fitting business suit, came walking into our office. If I had to guess I would say he was from Turkey, and I was right.

He introduced himself as Tony, and he said he was Turkish and he said that represented a company that was moving into the Olshen building.

Tony asked if we would be interested in renting our empty fenced in lot on 36 Avenue.

He said that the company he represented would be leasing the large Olshen Overseas building, which was right across the street from our lot.

He said that they needed outdoor storage space for some aircraft equipment.

As we weren’t using the lot, we agreed to rent it for $400.00 per month.

Tony reached into his pocket and gave us $400.00 in cash.

He said he would return to write up an agreement with us.

That very same afternoon we watched as someone filled the fenced in lot with aircraft ground support equipment.

About a month passed by and Tony had not returned.

That’s when I noticed one of the large roll up doors on the Olshen building was now open, and there appeared to be a bit of activity going on there.

So out of curiosity, I thought I would walk down there to see who we actually were renting out our lot to.

I walked up a long ramp, and stepped into the large Olshen building.

As I did so, a giant growling German Shepherd dog confronted me.

I thought he was going to attack me when someone yelled “Down Kibbutz”, and the dog immediately backed off.

A middle aged man in military Khaki type shirt and shorts, approached me.

The fellow got right in my face and said, “What do you want?”

Stunned, and not knowing exactly what to say, I said, I own the lot you are renting across the street.

As I spoke to him, I could see all around me that the giant warehouse was empty, with the exception of someone sitting at a card table in the middle of the building.

As I looked, the person sitting at the card table raised his hand in the air and motioned with his fingers for me to come over.

The fellow in the Khaki uniform stepped aside with the dog next to him, and I walked to the middle of the building to the fellow at the card table.

As I approached, I saw he was a very short, and pudgy fellow, and he was all smiles.

He extended his hand to shake mine, but his fingers were so pudgy, that I found it difficult to shake his hand.

On the card table was a blank sheet of paper and a bottle of Evian drinking water, nothing else.

“Who are you?” the pudgy fellow asked me, I’m Howard, I said, and I am the person renting you the lot across the street.

“Hello Howard, he said, “I’m Sarkis, and I’m very pleased to meet you, please have a seat.”

Sarkis proceeded to ask me what we did in our business, and I told him that we were getting into the military parts supply business.

I could see that Sarkis thought that was interesting.

Then he said, “My intention is to rebuild aircraft engines in this building, but we are waiting until we finish purchasing an airport in the Orlando area”.

You are buying an airport in Orlando I asked, “Yes” he said.

“The airport was owned by a movie star, and he had bought it for his girlfriend and she turned it into an animal zoo.

We are cleaning it up now, and I intend to eventually take the aircraft apart up there.”

I had once heard something years ago, about Burt Reynolds buying an airport for his girlfriend and I thought this must be what Sarkis was talking about.

Sarkis then asked if he owed me any money for renting the lot across the street, and I said yes. I really didn’t know if he did or not.

Sarkis then waved his hand towards the office area of the building and then he yelled to someone to bring a map, as well as bring some money for Howard.

In a minute a young man in his early twenties appeared with a map of the airport in Orlando,

Sarkis introduced the young fellow as his son Garo, as he unfolded the map.

As he was doing this, a young blond woman secretary appeared with another four hundred dollars in cash for me.

Sarkis asked his son Garo to bring another map, and shortly Garo appeared with a big map with Russian writing on it.

Sarkis said, “Howard, this is an airport we also own in Russia, It is bigger in square meters than Miami International airport”.

He went on to say, I am part owner of a French electronics company and we have contracts in Russia to upgrade the radio system on their T72 tanks.

We also are going to upgrade their MIG-29 aircraft.  

After talking for about an hour with him, I said goodbye to Sarkis and his son Garo.

I had found Sarkis to be the most likeable fellow I ever met, but at that point I really didn’t know who he was or  if I believed everything he said.

The next day, I happened to have an appointment with the vice president Rainer Obermann of Pan American Bank,

The bank is  located on 36th Street in Miami right across from the Miami International airport.

While I was in Obermann’s  office, I mentioned that I had a new neighbor named Sarkis.

Rainer said, “Do you know who Sarkis is?” No, I said, so he told me.

He said that Sarkis was also his client, and he was widely known as the “Merchant of Death”.

He said Sarkis was the second largest arms dealer in the world.

His company Pan American Aviation had recently been closed down, and Sarkis had been indicted for selling Bell helicopters and handheld missile launchers to the country of Iraq.

It turned out that my banker Obermann knew everything about Sarkis, and he said, the Fed’s and the IRS had just confiscated all of Sarkis’s aircraft and equipment.

I didn’t dare tell him I was renting Sarkis my storage lot that had a lot of his equipment on it.

Rainer said, Sarkis really was a nice guy and had his own personal chef.

He said and he often joined Sarkis for a lobster lunch in the office of his aircraft company.

With that, he swiveled his chair around and pointed to a big building right across 36th Street on Miami International Airport property, “That he said, was Sarkis’s Pan American Aviation Company”.

How exciting it was to find out who my new neighbor was.

So that afternoon, while I was talking to a friend Ted Henke in Detroit, I mentioned that my new neighbor was Sarkis Soghanalian, who was also known as the “Merchant of Death”.

I was surprised as my friend Ted, said he knew Sarkis well.

Ted said, that I should mention his name the next time I met with Sarkis, he said that when he was a young salesman working for the Cadillac Gage Company, he said he met Sarkis in Beirut Lebanon.

Ted then told me the whole story.

Ted  had tried to arrange a meeting with the Defense Minister in Lebanon for two weeks with no success.

He was ready to fly back to the United States, when he was told to contact Sarkis Soghanalian. He was told he might be able to pay Sarkis to arrange a meeting with the Defense Minister.

Ted then went to Sarkis’s office, it was located on the second floor of an office building in down town Beirut.

In the office, Sarkis, was sitting at a desk with a big open safe behind him. Ted could see that the safe was piled high with U.S. currency.

Because Ted had never seen so much money before he asked Sarkis if he was afraid someone would steal it.

Sarkis told him no, the building was loaded with C4 explosives set to detonate if anyone attempted to rob him, and everyone in Beirut knew it.

Ted asked Sarkis if he would help him arrange a meeting with the Lebanese Minister of Defense.

Sarkis said that he was very sorry, but it was just not possible to meet the Minister at this time.

Ted was disappointed, and he told Sarkis that he was leaving Lebanon the next day.

Sarkis said, that as this was his last evening in Beirut, he should come to his home that evening, as Sarkis was having a little party.

That evening, Ted went to the party by taxi.

Sarkis’s home was in the mountains high above Beirut, it was overlooking the entire city.

Ted said, he could see that there was a very large party going on at the house.

When he arrived, he was immediately greeted at the door by Sarkis, and they went right to the large open bar for a drink.

Sarkis then took Ted into the living room and introduced him to the Lebanese Minister of Defense.     Ted said Sarkis then told him that the Defense Minister of Saudi Arabia was also there at the party he was in the next room.

It wasn’t long after that that Ted sold Cadillac Gage vehicles to both countries Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.

Ted said that two years later he returned to Sarkis’s office in Beirut and asked him if he owed Sarkis a commission for his selling vehicles to the two countries.

Sarkis said no, he didn’t want a commission he was just happy to help Ted.

The next day, after my having spoken to Ted, I again met with Sarkis, and I mentioned Ted’s name.

Sarkis said he remembered Teddy and the Cadillac Gage vehicles very well, and I should give Teddy his best regards.

Sarkis said, it was shortly after Ted left Beirut the second time, that he, had to leave Lebanon.

He said that it was because he had supplied weapons to both the Christians and the Moslems in Lebanon, but now the Moslems had gotten mad at him and issued a “fatwa” to kill Sarkis and his son Garo.

So Sarkis said, he had ordered his men to place two pounds of C4 explosives in his office in the city. He wanted to destroy any evidence of his being there.

At twelve noon on the appointed day Sarkis brought his wife and his son and daughter out to their patio to watch the explosion down in the lower city of Beirut.

Unfortunately his men had misunderstood him and placed 20 pounds of C4 explosive in the office.

When the explosion went off it destroyed the entire city block in Beirut.

Sarkis said that it looked like a nuclear bomb had gone off.

Unfortunately the building’s owner was in the building at the time.

Sarkis said “He was a no good Christian Moslem Jew bastard anyway”.

It was for this, reason, and probably others, Sarkis and his family moved to Miami, with two of his hired bodyguards.

The one bodyguard that watched over Sarkis’s son Garo was Avi, the Israeli with Kibbutz his attack dog. Then there was Tony the Turk who was Sarkis’s personal assistant as well as his second bodyguard.

Whenever Garo’s bodyguard Avi, had a few spare moments, he would stop by my office to talk, and joke around, but believe me he was ever vigilant when it came to protecting Sarkis’s son.   

Over the next few months Sarkis and I became good friends and I visited with him regularly.

Sometimes I would drive our restored military Jeep over to his building.

I knew that Sarkis absolutely loved our restored Jeep, it was a Korean War era M38A1 with a fake 30 caliber machine gun mounted on it.

The Jeep had several fake hand grenades in it, and sometimes Sarkis would meet me on his loading dock and I would pitch a few fake hand grenades at him and he would throw them back.

One day Sarkis surprised me, he took me into the far end of his building, and there behind a wall he had a vehicle under a tarp.

He pulled off the cover and there was a miniature military looking vehicle and it looked like a small version of a military Hummer.

Sarkis said his prototype had a Buick V6 gas engine in it, but the final production models would have German engines.

It appeared Sarkis trusted me enough to show me his secret projects.

One day a friend of mine came to Miami, he specialized in selling tank track, so I took him over to meet Sarkis.

As we sat in Sarkis’s office talking, there was a knock on the door. I opened the door and there stood a six foot tall black guy with sunglasses on and he was dressed in a finely tailored custom suit and tie, the only thing missing was a sign on his chest saying C.I.A.

He asked for Sarkis, so my friend and I immediately excused ourselves and left the building quickly.

A few days later, Sarkis said, “Every time a new CIA or FBI agent that was assigned to Miami, they always came to ask him questions.

Sarkis said, “Its funny because I really don’t know anything.”

Another day, I walked over to see Sarkis and there was a Land Rover parked inside his building. I noticed that in back of the vehicle was a lot of olive drab web gear, and I thought I saw several web type gun cases.            

Avi, who was the Israeli bodyguard, was now dressed in military mountain camouflage clothing.

He  saw me looking and quickly pulled me aside and said the land rover was for the missionaries in Armenia.

He said, “They were loading Garo’s DC 3 aircraft full of humanitarian supplies and that Sarkis had pledged three million dollars towards the Armenian earthquake relief fund”.

That’s when I learned that Sarkis was a Lebanese Armenian himself.

Then Avi said, “Why don’t you come with us?”

I looked at Avi and I said, what could I possibly do in Armenia?

Avi said, “Sarkis will introduce you to the president and you can do business with him”.

I said, do they have any money in Armenia?

Avi thought for a minute and said, “No they have no money, but they have plenty of women”.

I said, thanks for the invite but I will have to pass on the offer.  

On a sunny Friday afternoon in 1991, I met with Sarkis and as I was leaving his office, I shook his hand and Sarkis said “I will see you on Monday Howard”.

That Sunday morning, as I was having a cup of coffee, and reading the Miami Herald.

There was a picture of my friend Sarkis.

The article said that Sarkis was going on trial that Monday morning in Miami.

He was charged with conspiring to sell Bell helicopters and handheld missile launchers to Iraq.

I wondered, how it was possible that Sarkis didn’t mention a word about his upcoming trial.

He had told me that he would see me on that very Monday?

The newspaper article said that Sarkis was the largest arms dealer in the world, and was really the arms dealer to Iraq working for the C.I.A.

I later saw on television that Sarkis was convicted and sentenced to six and a half  years in prison. for smuggling 103 Bell helicopters into Iraq

I kind of felt bad for him as it was pretty obvious he was working in conjunction with the C.I.A. and they had instructed him to do it.

Sarkis said he was always a patriot and did what the CIA wanted. But he was convicted and sentenced to prison.

I walked over to his building several times, asking, Avi, Garo and Tony if I could visit Sarkis in jail. They said “No”.

So I asked his son Garo, if anything could be sent to Sarkis, like books, and he also said, “No”.

All of Sarkis’s people appeared to be acting very evasive with me, and I never found out where Sarkis was being held.

Perhaps a year or so later, my wife Katherine and I were at Miami International Airport waiting for one of our suppliers who was flying in to visit us.

While standing there waiting for the flight to arrive, I met Sarkis’s son Garo, he had walked up and tapped me on the back.

Garo said he was also at the airport to meet a friend.

When we went to pick up our friends bags at the luggage carousel, there in front of me, bending over to get a bag was my short pudgy friend Sarkis.

His shirt was untucked so I pressed my finger into his side like it was a pistol.

Sarkis stood up, turned towards me, and with a broad smile, he shook my hand and said “Howard, how are you?”

Sarkis told me he was on his way to France, and after that I never ever saw him again.

The official story was he gave information to break up a Lebanese counterfeiting ring and his sentence was reduced.

Sarkis went on to help the government in other things and eventually his sentence was reduced to time served.

I read on the internet that Sarkis went on to sell guns to Vladimiro Montesinos, the head of Peru’s intelligence service, and the guns ended up with the Rebels in Colombia.

The scandal brought down the government in Peru and Montesinos was put in prison, and probably is still there.

Sarkis had always claimed that everything he ever did was with the permission of the U.S. Government, and he said most everything he did was for the benefit of the U.S. Government, and the C.I.A.

He always claimed he was a true U.S. patriot.

To me, Sarkis was a short pudgy fun guy who always greeted me with a broad smile.

I read that in 2001 Sarkis, still in France, was ill,

He contacted in America a reporter that he trusted.

He wanted the reporter to check with the Department of State to find out if Sarkis could return to the U.S. from France.

The reporter told Sarkis he had checked and was told that there were no wants or warrants out for Sarkis’s arrest.

The reporter said it was safe for Sarkis to return to America.

When the plane landed Sarkis was arrested and put in the Krome Avenue Detention Center in Miami.

I tried to follow up, to find out if he needed some assistance, I knew he was sick, but no one would talk to me.        

On Oct 8, 2011, I read in the Miami Herald that Sarkis, the “Merchant of Death” had died at age 82 of heart failure at Hialeah hospital.

Unknown to me, he was living in Hialeah, just a few miles from where I live.

I read that by the time he passed on he was broke.